Log 13
Date: 18TH OCT 2186
Location: SEATTLE RUINS, WASHINGTON, USA
"So, where do we begin?"
It was the following day and we'd all gathered in the meeting room. There was a lot to discuss, even after what felt like a lifetime since the invasion began so few of our troops actually understood what they were up against. Also the Colonel had a plan for going back on the offensive in some way. Unlike the General the way she put it didn't bring me out in a cold sweat which was hopefully a good omen. As well as the officers we were joined by the Justicar and a few members of her crew, she had just spoken.
"I think I'll start Ms T'Ren. The general never had any time for briefings about what the Reapers really are. He refused every request I made on the subject but it is time you all knew what you are facing," I said.
"The Reapers are technically classed as cyborgs, creatures that contain both machine and organic aspects."
"We've never seen any indications that the Reapers are partly organic; they seem to be made of metal," The colonel frowned.
"That's certainly how they appear on the outside but we've learned from Shepard that inside each Reaper they store large quantities of genetic material, Harvested from other life forms. We don't know how this material is used but all Reapers brought down throughout the galaxy have been confirmed to contain it. Given that the Reapers have not yet attempted to replace their losses Alliance command believes that due to technical or possibly even 'religious' reasons they will not create more of themselves until they have acquired sufficient genetic material."
"What do you mean by religious reasons?" Asked Lara T'Ren.
"We're not sure what use the material might have so some of the Alliance top brass have theorized the practice might be to do with some belief or hardwired programming. It's impossible to know for certain."
"Have the Alliance or the Council made any progress in understanding Reaper technology?" T'Ren again.
"Virtually none, we've tried examining some of the derelicts but the Reapers often destroy them completely soon after they're killed. We've gotten close to one or two but our scans are often deflected and our scientists have difficulty-"
"I'm sorry Admiral but I have to ask what you meant by 'genetic material'," the Colonel said suddenly.
Ah, I had hoped to avoid that particular topic though I guess it was always inevitable. Of all the aspects of the Reapers this was certainly the most grizzly.
"We call them 'Reapers' for a reason. Even now they're taking people every day and... Harvesting them. You really don't want to know the details," I explained.
"What for?" Someone called out. He wasn't the only one either, I could hear a lot of murmuring in the background. They'd come to learn about their enemy, they hadn't expected to find this.
No matter how well you think you know them the Reapers always find a way to be even more horrifying than you ever imagined I thought to myself. Out loud I said
"Best not think about it, our only focus should be on beating them."
"But what do they want? Why are they doing this?"
"We don't know, we can only guess at their motives. We know that they've come for all of us, every single sentient species but we don't know why. Maybe there really is some great cosmic purpose just as they're always hinting at or maybe they're just insane, out of control AI's. Frankly they could be both for all I care. We can wonder why when all that's left of them is scrap metal."
"Hear, hear" a couple of people said (I had no idea anyone still says that).
We talked about a lot of more dull technical details regarding the Reapers as well. Xi Chan was brought up on the communicator so he could list everything he'd been able to determine about the Reaper foot soldier's technical capabilities from studying their corpses. He was certainly no biologist but he was able to make reasonable guess as to the function of many of their implants and the firepower of their weaponry. I did my best to take it all in, jotting down some notes from time to time but really it was all just a bit over my head. Xi Chan was very erudite, more like a lecturer than an engineer at times but when speaking on topics that interested him he tended to get excited and speak incredibly rapidly (I could see a few of the others frowning as they tried to keep up with his pace). Finally we reached the topic I had been waiting for: indoctrination.
"And now I've been asked to speak on the subject of Reaper indoctrination," Xi Chan was saying.
"Admiral as you have spoken to people with direct experience on this subject would you mind giving a brief introduction before I do my best to explain the techniques used in detail?"
"Of course. I've spoken to Shepard several times on the subject and had one or two personal encounters with those affected. From this I have come to believe indoctrination to be possibly the greatest weapon the Reapers possess." I began.
"It is the means by which they are able to bend any sentient species to their will. Given the large Reaper presence here on Earth we must be especially vigilant against this threat. Exposure to any Reaper technology increases the risk of indoctrination."
"Is there any way to tell if someone's been indoctrinated?"
"It's a slow process, I've heard about cases where the indoctrination makes use of existing beliefs and twists them to it's own desires. The fearful become cowed by them, the ambitious start to believe they can work with the Reapers to gain more power and so on. Sooner or later every subject's train of logic leads them to accept the Reapers as absolute masters," I explained.
"Are there any other signs, anything that might give us an edge?" Asked Colonel Travis.
"Some of the victims have been known to complain of headaches or memory loss. They've talked about significant memory gaps while under the influence which suggests that the signal can affect the subconscious forcing people to obey without even knowing it. But that isn't always the case, as I said, many victims are actually 'convinced' into consciously serving the Reapers."
"It sounds as if the Reapers have very specific control over the process of indoctrinating each individual."
"That's a very interesting point," replied Xi Chan.
"At the moment we're not clear on how the signal can adapt itself to each individual. Some of our scientists believe that it's simply due to the colossal amount of processing power each Reaper possesses that allows it to direct multiple indoctrinations simultaneously without affecting it's other tasks. However some are theorizing that it is some form of interaction between the Reaper signal and the subject's psyche."
"How long does it usually take to indoctrinate someone?"
"As with most things about this process, it varies from subject to subject, for a strong willed subject under standard indoctrination it could anything up to a couple of months. However if necessary Reapers can also indoctrinate people extremely rapidly though this leads to accelerated neural degeneration." Xi Chan added in.
"In those cases the symptoms should be much easier to spot as the indoctrination destroys higher brain functions leaving the subject incapable of performing complex tasks. From our observations the Reapers only use rapid indoctrination to create slaves for manual labour tasks. If a sleeper agent is needed they'll use techniques more similar to those the Admiral described. Sooner or later though all subjects will succumb to the neural degeneration."
"What do we do if someone reports any of these symptoms?"
"We kill them," stated Lara T'Ren in a matter of fact tone.
"Actually that might just discourage people from letting us know if there's an issue." I pointed out.
"For now we'll try rotating any potentially affected soldiers on to patrols that keep them a long way away from any Reaper tech. Maybe limiting their exposure will stop or even reverse the effects. At the very least they'll be isolated and heavily monitored."
"Yes that may work well against the initial stages Admiral but long term exposure to the signal alters the subjects brain so that it can effectively amplify that signal. Essentially if left long enough a person becomes their own personal indoctrination broadcaster impossible for them to escape from," Xi Chan looked around at the sea of aghast faces. "Possibly best to catch issues as early as possible."
"And will it wear off if you stay away from the signal?"
Xi Chan shrugged.
"There's no way to be certain Colonel. Obviously it would seem to be a logical possibility but the only way to be certain will be with actual experimentation."
"Experimentation? On us?"
"Bad choice of words," I said. "But in this case it just means trying to do something that might prevent us from being indoctrinated."
"Now then Colonel, what was your plan for retaliation against the Reapers?"
"After everything we've heard today I'm not sure if-"
"Let's hear it Colonel."
"Of course sir. We've located a Reaper ship about fifteen klicks from here."
I frowned, something about the way she phrased it sounded odd to me.
"A Reaper ship? Is that different to an actual Reaper?"
"We've seen no indication that this one is alive. When we contacted Alliance intelligence they informed us that the enemy does have a number of vessels that are not living Reapers."
This was new information to me, evidently the Colonel had done her homework while I'd been out in the countryside being shot at by Harbinger, I was impressed.
"Have they been able to determine the purpose of these ships?" I asked.
"They've identified two distinct models. One has been clearly identified as a troop transport, dropping foot soldiers across the galaxy."
"And the other?"
"Well until you explained what the Reapers do to the people they capture it was assumed to be some sort of prison ship. Now I guess it must be some kind of- of processing center." She looked distinctly ill as she spoke.
"And you were planning a jailbreak?"
Travis gave a weak smile.
"Something like that, yeah."
"That's not a bad idea actually," I commented. "With enough preparation we might be able to pull it off."
"But given what you said about how the Reapers deal with their prisoners, I mean will there even be anyone left to save?"
"I recall Shepard once managed to pull off a rescue in a similar situation. That was against the Collectors not the Reapers but the principle should be the same."
"So you think we should go for it?"
"We'll need more information, a lot more information if we're going to attempt this but yes. If we turn this opportunity down before we've even looked into it we might as well start giving up this war."
"What are your orders, sir?"
"Send out the scouts and start watching this thing around the clock, I want a complete rundown of the outer defenses and find out how new people are brought into the ship."
"We have a few details already."
"Excellent find out more, then report back. Dismissed."
After the meeting was concluded I reflected on all that had been discussed. Although long overdue I felt the information about our enemy would still prove useful. A recording of the briefing was being sent to every major city we still had contact with, I hoped it would help them continue to resist. We were also sending them the predicted locations of the Asari Justicars on Earth (they shared intended landing sites with each other). We only sent each city the location of the nearest Justicar for security purposes but if those groups could manage to link up we'd be in as strong a position as I could hope for. We still wouldn't be a match for the Reapers but I hoped we'd be strong enough to give them a nasty surprise.
I briefly wondered why the Reapers would park a processing ship close to a city they had already destroyed. My guess was that they wanted a site away from any front line fighting. Destroying the city may have been part of a strategy of creating a 'safe zone' where processing could take place uninterrupted. Well if the Reapers thought that their operations would be safe here they were about to learn that they were badly mistaken.